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Get Inspired in 2018 With Our Let’s Talk Kids Ted Talk Playlist

Everybody loves a good TED Talk. And you can find “playlists” all over TED.com with talks focused on particular topics and audiences. As inspiration for 2018, we decided to make a “Let’s Talk Kids” playlist, curated especially for YOU.

This idea required no small amount of digging. As youth leaders in schools, camps and enrichment opportunities, you’re a diverse audience with vast interests. But there’s something for everyone on this list. Check out these “ideas worth spreading,” according to TED.

Let’s start with a talk on the infamous topic of screen time. For many concerned about youth development, that phrase conjures up all kinds of negativity, and even fear. Sara DeWitt, a VP at PBS KIDS, faces those fears head-on and offers new ways of thinking about them. Skeptical? Consider this: We all know that screens are here to stay, kids love ’em, and adults, well, we have a love/hate relationship with them. So this opportunity to reframe screen time for greater benefit to children is well worth your time.

On the flip side, author and podcaster Manoush Zomorodi discovered that boredom is a scientifically proven playground for our most creative ideas. Since the smartphone has vastly depleted our opportunities to get bored, Zomorodi launched a challenge on her podcast that stirred thousands to reinvent their relationships with smartphones. Find out what happened when her listeners set aside screens to create more brain space for creative thinking.

This TED talk is a must-see for anyone and everyone developing young leaders. Educator Drew Dudley wants to transform the idea of leadership being “bigger than us” and only about “changing the world.” Ordinary opportunities for leadership are teeming around us—all of us—when we wake up to our potential for enriching lives every single day. Don’t miss Dudley as he tells one funny, compelling story to illustrate his point.

You’re investing in young people every day, but what happens when they hit adulthood? Clinical psychologist Meg Jay says too many 20-somethings today think it’s acceptable to squander this important decade of their lives. She offers 3 important ways that they can choose instead to take exploratory leaps forward and shape a more promising future.

Now to spotlight one of your colleagues—Karim Abouelnaga has built a company to reclaim “lost” summer months when inner-city kids are likely to regress academically. He explains how his team at Practice Makes Perfect has recreated summer school for poor kids across New York City—making summer a time when kids want to be learning and closing the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged youth.

While we’re spotlighting educators, here’s scientist Cesar Harada who explains how he’s nurturing in kids a love for science while harnessing their creativity to help solve complex environmental problems. The point is less about science and more about kids—let Harada inspire your own student relationships to expand creative potential in disciplines of all kinds.

This talk will make you howl with laughter as blogger Tim Urban takes you deep into the mind of an expert procrastinator. If you listen to one TED talk on this entire list, this one is a sure bet for perspective AND entertainment.

You have more time than you think, according to time management expert and author Laura Vanderkam. She reveals where your lost hours are hiding and offers tangible steps for identifying your priorities and making time for them.

Well, folks, that’s a wrap! Hope you find “an idea worth sharing” or one that will enhance your life for the coming year.

About Gina Calvert

Gina Calvert is the Senior Marketing Writer for ACTIVE Network, providing marketing and business resources for active lifestyle organizations across a range of markets, including government, nonprofits, camps, schools and endurance events, for more than six years.